It’s a pretty safe bet that when your parents were buying their first house, the only way to get a mortgage was to go directly to a bank — or search around town for one of only a few mortgage brokers willing to help.
Thankfully, times have changed; today you can simply pop online and start looking for mortgage deals within minutes.
Online mortgage loan brokers are responsible for producing an ever larger volume of the total mortgage lending business. As those young adults who have grown up in the Internet age are finally reaching the point of buying homes, they are also looking to the Internet to do so. In short, online mortgages are here to stay.
They’re not your parents’ mortgage deals either.
The Internet Has Grown Up
What was affectionately known as the World Wide Web was not introduced until the early 1990s — but even into the early aughts, people were very wary of it. They may have gone online to read the news or check sports scores, but people weren’t comfortable buying things online; they certainly weren’t comfortable shopping for insurance or applying for mortgages.
So what changed? Both the Internet and its users have grown up. Just look at the financial services sector. In 2019 you can secure funding for a new house by working with online mortgage loan brokers. You can open a bank account without ever stepping foot into a brick-and-mortar bank branch.
You can go online to shop for insurance, invest in stocks and shares, buy cryptocurrency, pay your bills, and check your bank balance. There is virtually nothing you cannot do online in terms of financial services. And for the record, there is nothing to fear about going online either.
Nothing to Fear Online
It is obvious that there are plenty of things that make people fearful about getting that first mortgage. Those fears are both normal and healthy. But using those fears as a reason to avoid online mortgages isn’t reasonable.
For example, one of the chief fears among people seeking mortgages is that they do not have enough money for a down payment. So rather than asking around, they simply continue on as-is not realizing that there are ways to get a mortgage without having 20% to put down.
Another big fear is that a poor credit history will ultimately result in one denial after another. People who are unsure about their own credit can be dissuaded from buying a house because they have convinced themselves they can never get a mortgage.
The common denominator in all of these fears is that they are the result of the unknown. Conquering them is a matter of getting out there and shopping for mortgages. And what’s the best way to do that? Liaising with an online mortgage broker.
Mortgage Brokers Have Options
By their very nature, mortgage brokers have a lot of options. And assuming you go with an independent online mortgage broker instead of one affiliated with a small number of banks, you are going to have access to virtually every mortgage deal out there.
It’s true that your bank or building society may not be willing to lend to you because you don’t have a large enough down payment. But a mortgage broker is not limited to your bank. He or she can likely find you a deal requiring less money down. As for your credit history, mortgage brokers specialize in finding mortgages for people with less-than-stellar credit.
The difference between mortgage brokers and bank officers is access. To be as plain and clear as possible, independent mortgage brokers have significantly more options available to them. Bank officers are limited to the products their employers offer. Independent mortgage brokers are not subject to any such limitations.
Fast, Easy, and Convenient
The fact that online mortgage brokers have so many more options is reason enough to go that route for finding a mortgage. But there’s more: An online mortgage broker offers a new way to shop for and obtain a mortgage too. Going online is faster, easier, and more convenient than trying to do things in a typical office setting.
Applying for a mortgage through the local branch of your building society means taking time away from your daily schedule to meet with a bank officer. Hook up with an online mortgage broker and you can make your application whenever you have time. Do it in the middle of the night if you want to.
Online mortgage deals are nothing like what your parents and grandparents had access to. That’s not a bad thing. The Internet has grown up, and so has mortgage lending. So embrace it. Online mortgage lending is perfect for the Internet generation.
Photo Credit: Woodley Wonderworks